Kelley Armstrong's Blog, page 141

Hi Kelley, huge fan! I was wondering if you could explain the corporate/business aspects of writing for us aspiring writers. Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers, is

Lots of questions, some that would require very long answers to do them justice, so consider this the condensed version.

1) Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers

Depends on numerous factors. Are you writing commercial or literary? Targeting one of the “big five” NY publishers or not? I’ll go with “commercial” and “big five,” and the answer there is…you need an agent. With the exception of a few lines at those publishers, they don’t look at unagented work. Here’s a great SFWA article on whether you need an agent, how to find one etc: http://www.sfwa.org/real/ 

2) is using a non-commercial word program OK

Do you mean a Home or Student version of Word? Yes, that’s fine. I don’t think there’s any way of knowing. However, if you mean “Can I use something other than Word?” No. I write in Scrivener but have to export to Word to send it to my editors.

3) once a publisher finally shows interest, what exactly happens from there?

Again, it depends on so many factors and what I’m going to give you here is the process for most commercial fiction writers working with a big five publisher. They make an offer. You negotiate. You decide whether to accept. This is where you need help if you don’t have an agent. You sign the contract. You send them the manuscript. They send edits. You edit. Repeat until all parties are satisfied. It goes to copyedits. You approve fixes. It goes to proofs. You proofread. Pre-pub promotion (by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Book release! Post-pub promotion (again, by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Meanwhile, be writing book 2 because it’ll be due before book 1 comes out. This is a super-simplified version of the process. 

Hi Kelley, huge fan! I was wondering if you could explain the corporate/business aspects of writing for us aspiring writers. Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers, is

Lots of questions, some that would require very long answers to do them justice, so consider this the condensed version.

1) Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers

Depends on numerous factors. Are you writing commercial or literary? Targeting one of the “big five” NY publishers or not? I’ll go with “commercial” and “big five,” and the answer there is…you need an agent. With the exception of a few lines at those publishers, they don’t look at unagented work. Here’s a great SFWA article on whether you need an agent, how to find one etc: http://www.sfwa.org/real/ 

2) is using a non-commercial word program OK

Do you mean a Home or Student version of Word? Yes, that’s fine. I don’t think there’s any way of knowing. However, if you mean “Can I use something other than Word?” No. I write in Scrivener but have to export to Word to send it to my editors.

3) once a publisher finally shows interest, what exactly happens from there?

Again, it depends on so many factors and what I’m going to give you here is the process for most commercial fiction writers working with a big five publisher. They make an offer. You negotiate. You decide whether to accept. This is where you need help if you don’t have an agent. You sign the contract. You send them the manuscript. They send edits. You edit. Repeat until all parties are satisfied. It goes to copyedits. You approve fixes. It goes to proofs. You proofread. Pre-pub promotion (by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Book release! Post-pub promotion (again, by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Meanwhile, be writing book 2 because it’ll be due before book 1 comes out. This is a super-simplified version of the process. 

Hi Kelley, huge fan! I was wondering if you could explain the corporate/business aspects of writing for us aspiring writers. Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers, is

Lots of questions, some that would require very long answers to do them justice, so consider this the condensed version.

1) Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers

Depends on numerous factors. Are you writing commercial or literary? Targeting one of the “big five” NY publishers or not? I’ll go with “commercial” and “big five,” and the answer there is…you need an agent. With the exception of a few lines at those publishers, they don’t look at unagented work. Here’s a great SFWA article on whether you need an agent, how to find one etc: http://www.sfwa.org/real/ 

2) is using a non-commercial word program OK

Do you mean a Home or Student version of Word? Yes, that’s fine. I don’t think there’s any way of knowing. However, if you mean “Can I use something other than Word?” No. I write in Scrivener but have to export to Word to send it to my editors.

3) once a publisher finally shows interest, what exactly happens from there?

Again, it depends on so many factors and what I’m going to give you here is the process for most commercial fiction writers working with a big five publisher. They make an offer. You negotiate. You decide whether to accept. This is where you need help if you don’t have an agent. You sign the contract. You send them the manuscript. They send edits. You edit. Repeat until all parties are satisfied. It goes to copyedits. You approve fixes. It goes to proofs. You proofread. Pre-pub promotion (by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Book release! Post-pub promotion (again, by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Meanwhile, be writing book 2 because it’ll be due before book 1 comes out. This is a super-simplified version of the process. 

Hi Kelley, huge fan! I was wondering if you could explain the corporate/business aspects of writing for us aspiring writers. Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers, is

Lots of questions, some that would require very long answers to do them justice, so consider this the condensed version.

1) Like once we go through our million and one edits and think we have gold on paper, how do we go about sending it to publishers

Depends on numerous factors. Are you writing commercial or literary? Targeting one of the “big five” NY publishers or not? I’ll go with “commercial” and “big five,” and the answer there is…you need an agent. With the exception of a few lines at those publishers, they don’t look at unagented work. Here’s a great SFWA article on whether you need an agent, how to find one etc: http://www.sfwa.org/real/ 

2) is using a non-commercial word program OK

Do you mean a Home or Student version of Word? Yes, that’s fine. I don’t think there’s any way of knowing. However, if you mean “Can I use something other than Word?” No. I write in Scrivener but have to export to Word to send it to my editors.

3) once a publisher finally shows interest, what exactly happens from there?

Again, it depends on so many factors and what I’m going to give you here is the process for most commercial fiction writers working with a big five publisher. They make an offer. You negotiate. You decide whether to accept. This is where you need help if you don’t have an agent. You sign the contract. You send them the manuscript. They send edits. You edit. Repeat until all parties are satisfied. It goes to copyedits. You approve fixes. It goes to proofs. You proofread. Pre-pub promotion (by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Book release! Post-pub promotion (again, by publisher if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it) Meanwhile, be writing book 2 because it’ll be due before book 1 comes out. This is a super-simplified version of the process. 

UK Cover Reveal for Sea of Shadows & ARC Contest

Here’s the UK cover for Sea of Shadows. Covers are a subjective thing. I can say “I love this one!” and others might say “Mmm, no, doesn’t work for me.” But I really do love both this cover and the US/Canadian one, which is rare. 75% of the time, my response to a cover is “Yeah, that’ll work.” And 15%, it’s “Ack!” :) I like these two, though, enough that I’ll probably get one printed for my office. The question is…which?

As always, with a reveal, I’m doing a contest for a copy. I’ll give away an ARC with this one. I have them ready to go, so it’ll be mailed ASAP. If you’d prefer a hardcover, though, that’s an option too. Just let me know which cover you’d want. And that’s also the subject of the contest question…

You’ll find the UK cover above and the North American one below. To enter this contest, just tell me which you prefer. Send your answer to contest@kelleyarmstrong.com.

One entry will be randomly drawn from all received.

Deadline: midnight Eastern Thursday, December 19. Not sure what that is in your time zone? Check here.

My contests are always open to everyone, everywhere. One entry per person. Winners are contacted by email. Alison send me the names after hearing back, and I sometimes remember to post them here ;)

* ARC = Advance Reader Copy

Hey :) I had the honour of meeting you when you came to Oshawa in August, and I'm still bragging about it lol. Thank you again for the 99% cat hair free shirt. I have a question for you about something that's been driving me batty regarding Thirteen. I hav

Glad you liked the 99% cat-hair-free shirt :) The Canadian publisher did 13 in white to signify that it’s different from the rest—it’s the final book. Unfortunately, readers have complained for the same reason you mentioned—it doesn’t match. I don’t think that was something they considered. I’m a bit of an…anomaly for them—they publish a lot of CanLit and those readers don’t care what the books look like on the shelf :) I have mentioned it, though, for the future.

Hey :) I had the honour of meeting you when you came to Oshawa in August, and I'm still bragging about it lol. Thank you again for the 99% cat hair free shirt. I have a question for you about something that's been driving me batty regarding Thirteen. I hav

Glad you liked the 99% cat-hair-free shirt :) The Canadian publisher did 13 in white to signify that it’s different from the rest—it’s the final book. Unfortunately, readers have complained for the same reason you mentioned—it doesn’t match. I don’t think that was something they considered. I’m a bit of an…anomaly for them—they publish a lot of CanLit and those readers don’t care what the books look like on the shelf :) I have mentioned it, though, for the future.

Hey :) I had the honour of meeting you when you came to Oshawa in August, and I'm still bragging about it lol. Thank you again for the 99% cat hair free shirt. I have a question for you about something that's been driving me batty regarding Thirteen. I hav

Glad you liked the 99% cat-hair-free shirt :) The Canadian publisher did 13 in white to signify that it’s different from the rest—it’s the final book. Unfortunately, readers have complained for the same reason you mentioned—it doesn’t match. I don’t think that was something they considered. I’m a bit of an…anomaly for them—they publish a lot of CanLit and those readers don’t care what the books look like on the shelf :) I have mentioned it, though, for the future.

Hey :) I had the honour of meeting you when you came to Oshawa in August, and I'm still bragging about it lol. Thank you again for the 99% cat hair free shirt. I have a question for you about something that's been driving me batty regarding Thirteen. I hav

Glad you liked the 99% cat-hair-free shirt :) The Canadian publisher did 13 in white to signify that it’s different from the rest—it’s the final book. Unfortunately, readers have complained for the same reason you mentioned—it doesn’t match. I don’t think that was something they considered. I’m a bit of an…anomaly for them—they publish a lot of CanLit and those readers don’t care what the books look like on the shelf :) I have mentioned it, though, for the future.

Hey :) I had the honour of meeting you when you came to Oshawa in August, and I'm still bragging about it lol. Thank you again for the 99% cat hair free shirt. I have a question for you about something that's been driving me batty regarding Thirteen. I hav

Glad you liked the 99% cat-hair-free shirt :) The Canadian publisher did 13 in white to signify that it’s different from the rest—it’s the final book. Unfortunately, readers have complained for the same reason you mentioned—it doesn’t match. I don’t think that was something they considered. I’m a bit of an…anomaly for them—they publish a lot of CanLit and those readers don’t care what the books look like on the shelf :) I have mentioned it, though, for the future.